Nigeria Premier League ready for court battle

Related News

The season has ended in the Nigeria Premier League, but attention is set to shift to the court rooms as court summons are already flying about from some aggrieved teams in the League.

Ocean Boys, the team that was expelled from the League, are already stirring the waters as it has instituted a court action against the NPL. The football body in response has boldly stated that the NPL is ready for any court action.

A board member of NPL, Abdulrazak Worpa, said on Monday that the body is ready for any court case filed by Ocean Boys and others that have scores to settle with the football body.

“We are ready, if the law allows for court action, then we will meet in court,” he said on a radio programme in Lagos on Monday.

It will be recalled that Ocean boys over the weekend confirmed that they would drag the NPL to court after the announcement that the team has been thrown out, and all their results expunged from the just concluded season.

The aggrieved team has also demanded for their share of television sponsorship money, one of their requests when they issued the seven day ultimatum to the NPL.

The spokesman for Ocean Boys, Eddy Ohis, said in an interview that the refusal to pay the television sponsorship money is one of the many ways the league board is not being fair to the teams.

“We were told at the start of the season that every team will receive their share of the television sponsorship money. But instead of getting that promised money, we were told to start paying referee’s indemnities, how does that work?

“Now that we have arrived at this point, it is time for us to move this league forward, and the only way to do that, is to ensure that there is transparency in everything that is done,” Ohis said.

“The league has a television sponsorship package; we all must share in it,” he added.

The Chairman of the NPL board, Rumsen Baribote, told PREMIUM TIMES in Ijebu Ode that his board has nothing to hide and that the NPL is not losing sleep over any court summon.